Reaper Madness
by ToonQueen
Summary: Mighty Ducks TAS: The ducks are attacked by strange machines with intentions of keeping them asleep. The ducks must defeat it before they are captured one by one!


Disclaimer: This is probably the scariest of the old Mighty Ducks stories I'm rewriting. Slight body horror and uncomfortable situations but made up for by amusing dreams maybe? Except some of the dreams are terrifying so…...

Timeline: Duluna and the Galax Team have been on earth for a six months now and getting along for the most part. Annabelle has come to Earth, (She's an experimental cyborg from Puckworld that long before she was a cyborg was Duluna and Duke's good friend.) Though I don't have intros for the OC's I hope their reactions to the plot tells about the character without having to do origin stories right now.

 **Reapers**

"Duke! Where the heck is my-" Gallery paused as she saw her hairbrush right by the sink. She could have sworn it was in her suitcase; but, last night had been a wild mess she wasn't surprised things had been misplaced. "Nevermind."

"Hrrrm?" Duke asked as he popped his head into the hotel bathroom. He was busy buttoning up the dress shirt he just put on. Gallery saw him behind her from the reflection in the mirror and smiled.

"Nothing, found it," she replied as she picked up the hairbrush. She talked to Duke while looking at his reflection. She moved her hair from her back to over her shoulder so it was out of the way, "Could you zip me up while you're here?"

"Heh, no problem," Duke replied as he walked into the bathroom and proceeded to zip up the back of Gallery's dress, "We're probably going to be late for whatever this awards thing Phil volunteered us to go to."

"Oh really, and who's fault is it if we're late?" Gallery raised an eyebrow at Duke's reflection as he finished zipping her up. He stayed behind her while he finished buttoning up his own shirt.

"Oh ho ho sweetheart. Last I checked it takes two to tango," Duke smirked as he finished the last button. Gallery began a rushed job of getting her hair combed. Duke tsked her a moment and took the brush from her, beginning to comb the hair for her. Normally Gallery would have protested the action but today she was enjoying the attention, "I don't think we need to rush. Might be best to show up fashionably late."

Gallery made a half agreeing hum noise without saying any words. She watched him in the mirror.

"So… hey. What's going on with us?" she asked as she watched him. Duke kept on brushing her hair as he talked.

"What do you mean what's going on?" his tone genuinely sounded like he did not know what the implications of that question could be.

"I mean… is this becoming a serious thing or just you know, the same hook up we've had since day one? I just want us to be honest about this. I don't want to ruin anything either way," Gallery explained with a long pause.

Duke made an uncertain um noise in response at first before speaking.

"Is this really the time to bring this up? We really should get to that… whatever we're going to," he said as he just paused a moment from brushing Gallery's hair. He realized that was the wrong answer when he saw Gallery's expression change in the mirror.

"Weren't you just saying we should take our time?!" She turned to look at him.

"Ah… with getting to the function or with this… thing.. we have?" asked Duke sheepishly.

"I can't believe you," Gallery replied while snatching away her hair brush from Duke, "all I want is an honest answer either way. It shouldn't be hard."

"If it isn't hard then you tell me what you want," Duke retorted, obviously frustrated with this subject suddenly coming up. Gallery made an annoyed expression on her beak.

"I wanted to know what you're feeling about it," She said as she crossed her arms and look Duke straight in the eye. He let out a sigh before opening his beak to speak again.

"Look, I think that-" he was interrupted by a loud crash in the main hotel room. Duke already hit to transform into battle mode, leaving his dress clothes on the floor He stepped out of the bathroom and was greeted by two large machines. Both were masses of metal tendrils with a small cylinder in the center of each. They both were scanning the room looking for something.

"Gallery! This looks like something up your alley," Duke shouted to her as she was still in the bathroom.

"Just a second…," Gallery muttered as she got her dress scanned into the wrist transformer, "like hell I'm going to shimmy into that dress again."

"Gallery!" Duke called again as he grabbed his sword from his shoulder. One of the robots scanned a green light over Duke and then spoke in a mechanical voice.

"Verified: Puckworld Duck," the robot said, "Home Planet Status: Critical. Reaping procedure initiated."

The metal tendrils on one bot started to unravel. Two of the cone like tips headed towards Duke, who ran back into the bathroom and shut the door. The action caused one of the cone tips to get stuck in the wood of the door. Gallery transformed into battle mode with her gown disappearing properly.

"Have any idea what this is?" Duke asked as he had to hold the door shut. The cone tip opened showing several little metal strands, each with a sharp little tip.

"No…," Gallery squinted to look at it before the whole bathroom wall shook like the machine was throwing his body against it to get in. Without saying anything more she began to pry open the bathroom window.

"Good idea," Duke said as she saw what Gallery was doing. He still had to hold all his weight on the bathroom door to keep the second bot from coming in. With his shoulder against the door he freed one arm to slice his sword through the tendril that burrowed through the door.

At having it's tendril tip sliced off it pulled back from the door. A robotic voice could be heard saying, "Unit 563 has been damaged. Send reinforcements to current location."

"Yep. That's not good," Duke added. Gallery removed the whole bathroom window and climbed out, then turning around to offer Duke help. He left the door knowing it would not stay closed long.

"This doesn't get you out of our discussion," Gallery added as she helped him through the small window. She then opened her comm, "Tanya! Duke and I are being attacked by some sort of robot."

Duke grabbed Gallery's other arm to get her to run with him away from the hotel.

"Hey, ah, can you get me a visual on it?" Tanya asked over comm.

"We prefer not to get close to it," Duke replied as he lead Gallery behind an RV in the hotel parking lot, "It scanned me. Said Puckworld was critical, and then attacked me."

"Okay… okay…," Tanya seemed to be thinking, "does it have tent-tent- long grabby arms?"

"Yes," Gallery was able to reply. Both she and Duke were so busy looking around the corner of the RV that they did not notice the robot that moved up behind them until it spoke.

"Verified: Gaian Duck. Home Planet Status: Undetermined. No outside communication for over two decades. Reaping procedure initiated," the robot said while scanning Gallery. Both ducks turned around to face the robot.

"Gaian? And what was this about being honest in this relationship?" Duke gave Gallery an annoyed look. Gallery grabbed his hand to move them away from the tendrils the robot released.

"Now is not the time!" She replied as she ran towards where their Duckcycle was parked.

"Oh. UH HUH. How the tables have turned now," Duke said under his breath.

"Guys, guys, what it may be is a Reaper. They're left over from some super intelligent race that thought it was their job to preserve any endangered species in the universe," Tanya said over comm, "It isn't attacking you. It's trying to capture you to put you in stasis until Puckworld is able to support life again."

"But Puckworld can support life. Last we knew," Gallery growled as she got in the driver's position on the Duckcycle. Duke sat behind her with no complaints.

"There was a charted increase in all over temp but uh, not enough to effect Puckworldians. I mean…. California is still hotter," explained Tanya.

"Well, someone needs to tell them that," Duke replied as Gallery drove them away from the hotel.

"What do we do to stop it?" asked Gallery as she sped down the road. Luckily the first traffic light was green.

"It has to have set up a base ship somewhere. I'll check the news for any strange sightings down there in Malibu," Tanya said as her typing on Drake One's keyboard could be heard, "Oh and another thing. If it does grab you it's uh, not good to fight it."

"What? Why?" Duke asked as he winced at the first red light Gallery went through.

"It releases t- t- tendrils that thread into major organs to support an organic creature while in stasis…. And one in the back of the brainstem. It can cause irreversible damage if tampered with."

"Yeah. That doesn't sound terrifying at all," Gallery said dryly, "So we get to this mother ship and get it to stop?"

"I'm letting Wildwing and Chrono know what's going on. We'll get some backup to come help too. But yeah. We gotta tell the mothership we're not endangered, er, for the most part," explained Tanya, "till then just get as much space between you and them as you can."

"Already doing that," Gallery replied as she revved even faster, driving away from the city. She was actually surprised no cop had tried to pull them over yet.

"Willing to bet Dragaunus may have tampered with them?" Duke added as Gallery ran another red light, "Jeez Sweetheart, you're enjoying breaking traffic laws too much…"

"That is a good possibility. The Reapers could have came for them first and then reprogrammed them like they did with Brawn," Tanya speculated, "Wildwing is coming out with a team asap. I'm staying at base to use Drake One to track the mothership and devise a way to reprogram them. Just avoid the Reapers for the time being. Okay?"

As the duo exited the city they saw in the distance a larger version of the Reaper robots they were avoiding. It was not big enough to be a ship, but was clearly a leader of some form. Gallery planned to keep racing forward until an unexpected tendril grabbed the rear tire of the cycle. Both ducks were jolted by the force. Duke was clear headed enough to grab Gallery and roll off the vehicle, shielding her from the brunt force of tumbling off the motorcycle.

Duke unwrapped his arms from around Gallery and looked up at the situation at hand. He ignored his sore shoulder from the roll on the road and quickly stood to help the other duck up. The tentacles were busy inspecting the Puckworldian cycle like their sensors read it as foreign but not sure if it was a lifeform or not. Gallery noticed it too as she grabbed Duke's hand and used the tendrils being distracted as a moment to escape. Duke followed where Gallery was leading him keeping a lookout for a car that would be easy to take. When he saw one he tugged Gallery in that direction.

He let go of her hand to head to the driver's seat but Gallery quickly beat him to it. She started to hotwire the car while Duke stood there a moment confused before getting in the passenger seat.

"You don't have to be an intergalactic jewel thief to know how to hotwire a car," Gallery said before Duke could comment. In an instant the car started and Duke rushed to get his seatbelt on before she hit the gas. By that time the Reaper that was after them was now at the front of their new ride.

"Lovely, " murmured Duke as Gallery took a sharp turn to avoid it. Duke braced himself with one hand on the ceiling and the other on the car dash. Luckily the larger Reaper was slower and took its time to turn around to follow the car.

"Tanya! It's not going to attack humans, is it?" asked Gallery as she hit the gas when traffic thinned out.

"Nah. I don't think so. I mean. There is a lot of them," answered Tanya. Duke looked behind them to see several smaller Reapers in quick pursuit. There was a moment's pause before they would catch up with the car.

"So what's with this Gaian thing?" Duke asked as he turned to face forward again.

"Not the time Duke. Not the time," Gallery replied as she started to drive on the shoulder to get around a truck.

"So…. You do magic then?" he asked casually as Gallery did maneuvers to get around larger trucks. The beeping of the Reapers could be heard in the distance.

"No. Of course not. My family still had to sneak out because of the war. I was little. No one in my family used magic but my Mother was accused," Gallery explained with varying tone as she swerved around traffic. Duke was silent and looked behind them again.

"It looks like we're losing them," Duke said as he saw most of the Reapers disappear in the distance. They had been slowed down because they were avoiding cars. Thankfully they seemed programed to avoid harming other life, "So….. technically an illegal immigrant?"

"Technically. But it's not like you have anyone to report it to now," muttered Gallery, now irritated, "And Anna would be too! She's been your friend longer. Bother her about this."

"Look. I'm not going to say anything. But don't do any magic around here. I had an Aunt that warned me there's... magic users that'll come take you if they pick up your powers or something," Duke said as he still watched the Reapers behind them.

"Okaaaaay. That's some odd information to know and pass along," Gallery replied as she then took a sharp turn around another truck. Despite having a seatbelt on, the force still caused Duke's head to bump on the ceiling.

"Well I don't know what else to say when my sorta girl...thing didn't tell me she was from another planet," Duke muttered as he rubbed his head with his free hand.

"Sorta girl thing? Are we in pucking High School Duke?" Gallery would have said more but she suddenly hit the breaks with the car coming to a hard screeching stop. Luckily it wasn't hard enough to get seriously hurt.

"Alright. I deserved that," Duke said as he rubbed his head. He opened his eyes when he didn't get a response from her, "Gallery?"

There were two Reapers units in front of the car. How they moved so quietly was anyone's guess. Gallery put it in reverse towards the shoulder, planning to go to the nearest exit off the road. The large capsule part of the Reapers came off its legs and launched itself to the roof of the car. Its tendrils were quick to break windows to attempt to get in. Duke stuck out the newly broken window to attempt to get on the roof. With his waist still in the car he swung his sword at a tendril. He successfully cut half way through it.

"Gallery! Speed up! We gotta get off this road before the ones behind us catch up too," Duke yelled while still half outside. However, the car started to slow down instead, "Gallery what are you-"

Duke froze a moment when he saw two tendrils were in Gallery's left side, having entered through the driver's side broken window. There was also one in the back of her neck. He eyes were still partly open but glazed over. Duke cursed under his breath and would have reached over and pulled out the back of the head tendril if he did not remember Tanya's warning. A tendril came at him again from the window on his side.

"TANYA. You're sure these things won't hurt us? YOU'RE SURE?!" Duke yelled at his com as he swung at the tendril in the tight quarters of the car.

"Yes. Why? What happened?" Tanya squinted as she tried to make out what visual she was seeing from Duke's comm, "Are you fighting one… IN A CAR?! ON A HIGHWAY?!"

"YES! It has Gallery. What do I do?!" Duke replied. His next sword swing took off his seat headrest and only made the tendril back off a little.

"She'll be safe. Y- you have to leave her for now. When we reprogram the Reapers we'll free her," Tanya said in a tone that she didn't like leaving Gallery behind either, "You have to leave her. Don't get caught. I need you to report what you see out there."

Duke cursed again and pulled the key out of the ignition. He strained to fight off two tendrils while safely parking the car at the side of the road. He slashed the tip off of an attacking tendril before looking at the now unconscious Gallery, "I will be back for you sweetheart."

He kicked the passenger door open and prepared to slash at two more attacking tendrils. However the Reapers on the car became more preoccupied with carefully getting Gallery out of the car instead of going after Duke. He noticed this and looked behind him for the second Reaper they had left behind. It was now catching up quickly. Duke ran to the nearest overpass to shoot a grappling hook to disappear upwards. He would have to do his best to avoid the Reapers until help arrived.

**********  
"Gallery! Wait up!" Tanya called out as she followed her friend down the hall of the school. The light grey duck stopped and turned to wait for her.

"What is it?" asked Gallery as she adjusted her backpack, holding onto both straps at her shoulders and resting them there. She already guessed Tanya's concern was their homework, "We've both finished with our weekend assignments and it's only Friday! We're not even out for the day!"

"No no, it's not that!" She replied as she looked to her large watch on her wrist. It was obviously more than just a watch, but some sort of sensor for sensing… something, "There is a disturbance in the park. The others are going to meet us there."

"Alright… it's not like I needed to go to last period anyways. We have to skip class to save the world!" Gallery announced only to have walking by students look at her weirdly, "Aheh. Alright alright. Let's go."

The two effortlessly walked from the high school to the park. There was clearly some kind of silver blobby monster chasing after innocent bystanders in the area. Duluna quickly caught up to Tanya and Gallery as she saw them coming from the opposite direction.

"I got here as soon as I could," Duluna said as she met up with them at the scene, "We can't wait for the others, we have to fight now!"

"Alright!" Gallery agreed as she pulled a small metal device from her pocket. She held it up with both hands, "Tech Sparkle Power!"

In a moment she was engulfed with light as she transformed into a white armor. The so called armor also included a skirt and high heel boots. Tanya followed suit with using her device and calling out, "Science Crystal Power!"

"Sword Glitter Power!" cried out Duluna and armor appeared on her as well. She had duel swords appear in her hands as Gallery had her bomb launcher and Tanya had her Omni-tool.

"Ladies! Let's try to surprise attack it from behind. It's distracted at the moment so let's make our move," Gallery announced as she stealthily moved behind a nearby tree. Tanya and Duluna followed suit. She lead the other two to a better vantage point to attack the metal blob creature.

"Gallery, I need you to get any data you can on that creature," Tanya spoke as she used her Omni-Tool to try to get a reading off the monster, "You can hear me, right?"

"Of course," Gallery looked to her friend who was within talking distance. She thought what the other scientist had said was strange. She looked back the creature and started to sneak up behind it. Tanya and Duluna followed Gallery as planned.

She aimed her gun at the back of the creature. Before she could fire there was a cloud of smoke appearing behind the metal blob. Gallery cursed as the smoke alarmed the creature and made it aware of the team sneaking up on it.

From the smoke came a caped figure with a top hat and a mask. In front of the creature he already took a fighting stance with sword in hand, "It looks like you ladies could use a hand-"

"Hey! Excuse me! We were here first!" Gallery yelled before the new figure could speak any more, "We have this situation already under control!"

The masked figure did not seem to register what the other duck said to him, "Fear not! I, Tuxedo Thief, shall save the day."

"Are you kidding me?" Duluna replied before Gallery could.

"Gallery, the locator on your comm has been deactivated. If you can hear me try to activate it," Tanya added. The statement gained another confused look from Gallery who just ignored it as she looked back to the caped figure. Before she could berate him more the metal blob they were fighting created a large fist from his body and punched Tuxedo Thief away from the fight. The creature then swung its fist back at Gallery who quickly dodged the attack.

Before any of her team members could do anything she leapt onto the fist before it swung at her again. While standing on the fist she fired her bomb launcher at the center of the creature. The other team members quickly backed up behind a tree while Tuxedo Thief was still getting up from being thrown. In a moment the blob exploded in a pile of gunk that splashed everywhere. Gallery managed to land on her feet with only a little of the blob splattered on her. Tuxedo Thief however was another story. He ignored the splatter on him as he walked up to Gallery.

"My job here is done," Tuxedo Thief spoke as he stood above the ladies from atop the park gym.

"But you didn't do anything," Gallery replied as the caped figure disappeared the best he could.


End file.
